Stake Land (2010)

The world has been ravished by despair after a deadly plague has transformed most of the population into bloodthirsty vampires. Martin and his mentor, Mister, set off through dangerous territory in the hopes of reaching the safe haven known as New Eden, but in order to do so, they will have to fight their way through hordes of the undead, let alone an army of crazed religious fanatics that have embraced "God's wrath." Nick Damici and Jim Mickle follow up their vastly underrated feature debut, MULBERRY STREET, with another powerful post-apocalyptic vision of hell starring Damici as the mysterious vampire slayer, "Mister." The scope of the picture feels all-encompassing, transforming the entire world into an undead nightmare on a relatively small-scale. Damici creates an excellent new anti-hero in Mister, with his brash behavior and uncaring attitude amounting to a memorable performance overall. Connor Paolo comes as a much bigger surprise, however, as Mister's argil apprentice, Martin. His sincerity and vulnerability are what draw us in to their unfortunate predicament as they race for survival. With the human element already in place, we turn to the unbridled terror of Mickle's vampires. The creatures function on a level of base instinct, and attack with the ferocity of an untamed animal. This makes for many frighteningly intense moments as Mister and Martin find themselves in inescapable situations against overwhelming odds. STAKE LAND succeeds on almost every level, and is a refreshing change of pace for vampire fans.

Rating: 8/10.

Movies like STAKE LAND:
BEYOND THE GRAVE, EXIT HUMANITY, The Walking Dead, THE OMEGA MAN, THE DIVIDE, DOOMSDAY, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT.

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